


Everything Changes when you're 4 ft tall.

by Flavoredfailure



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Angst, Family Fluff, Found Family, Growing Up, Hurt/Comfort, Magical Accidents, Memory Loss, Minor Kravitz/Taako (The Adventure Zone), Multi, Not Beta Read, POV Taako (The Adventure Zone), Taako Needs A Hug, magnus is an uncle kinda person, not super shippy because he's a child, void fish, voidfish static
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-15
Updated: 2020-02-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:40:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22271212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flavoredfailure/pseuds/Flavoredfailure
Summary: After everyone had settled down, scars just barely healed over. Taako wakes up and doesn't know where he is. This is going to get worse, right?(After retrieving a magical artifact, Taako finds himself much, much younger and with no knowledge of anything that has happened)Let the angst begin!(currently wip)
Relationships: Angus McDonald & Taako, Barry Bluejeans/Lup, Julia Burnsides/Magnus Burnsides, Kravitz/Taako (The Adventure Zone), Lup & Taako (The Adventure Zone)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 57





	1. Taako does NOT wake up before 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hallo!  
> This is just an extra from a cut version of chapter one! (I changed how the story works oops)  
> but it is still cannon to the story.

T̴̫͛̂̑̃̅̅͋̂a̵̹͇͈͇͎̿̆̂͑͂̕a̴̡̟̗͚̜̘̦̤͛̈́̾̚͝k̶͕̲̝̫̳͉͈̿̓͠͝o̵͕̲̦͎̪͕͘!̵̡̩͚͌̉ ̴̫̼̟̪͚͈̦̯̈̈́̿I̵̯̝͕͌͊̾͋͐̔̆̕t̷̡̹͂͑͒̂̏̈͝'̴͈͋̂̂̿͊̎ş̵̲͍̼̰̺̒̚ ̴̮̲̰͇̭͓̺̇̈́̄̃́̐̋m̵̧͈̳͈̀͒̓̾͑͘͝͝e̵̢̠̥͇̲̾ ̴̲̃̀̀͋̽́L̸̘̘̼͔̣͗̒͂͝u̸̞͌̎͋̌͆͆̎ͅp̴̯̮͍̟̜̓̏̋̉̏͗̕!̷̝͚͋̂͛̉̒ ̷̫͈͇͚͚̮̂̇͘̕W̸̧̭̘͈̪̝̣̿͜͝͝ẻ̵̤͋̎̃̆ ̴̡͈̪͖̆͠h̵̼̻̟̐͛̊ͅą̴̘̠̱̟̩̓̊̀̂̽̚v̵̛͕͈̭̣̺͓͗̈̒̕͜ͅe̶̹͍̗̱̞̟͎̘͑ ̸̛̱̥͉̐̏̑̒͐͠t̶̼̟͇̀̈̽ͅő̵̢͎̻̪͖͍̑͌̃͐ ̵̡͚̖͋̇́̋͆g̴͖̿̉͌ö̸̹̱͍͔̼͖͈̲́,̵̪̤̪̹̪̙̈́̀̇ ̵̗̒̑̾̏w̶̛̤̿̅̾ą̶͉̠̩͔̘̌͛̇̒̕k̴͉̖̒̂̓̂͝e̶̦̓͒̀̒̚ ̷̯͕̠͌̍̇̋̉̏͝ͅú̸̡̼̊͆̏ṕ̵̡̠̫̲̪̪̱̥̅̐̍̍͘͝!̸̱͈̎́̅̒"̷̡̡̛̣͉͚̠̀

My eyes shot open, I tried to sit up, to find the person who was just screaming. But the blanket wrapped around me made it difficult. The room was darkened but I knew something was wrong, I hadn't been inside when I fell asleep.  
Wrestling with the colorful sheets I pulled myself from the bed, my clothes were different too, way bigger and more layers. 

A noise from the corner of the room caught my attention, a tall broad-shouldered man with thick sideburns was pushing open the door his smiled almost too big. In a flash I was hidden back under the covers, hoping to the gods above he hadn't spotted me. Though a voice in the back of my head said he probably put me in here himself.  
"Taako! I know you're policy on getting up before nine but Barry and Lup want to go to the park or something" The man said, how did he know my name? Lup, wait Lup, my head hurt but I knew a Lup, right? The man's heavy footsteps were bringing him closer and closer to my current hiding place, I couldn't help but shiver a little. He pulled the blanket back, a huge smile on his face. Then, he stopped, brows furrowing together, "Uh, Taako? Why, what,," I sat up carefully, looking past him at the open door. "Uh, ok this is uh, ok" Looking at the guy one more time, I stood up and bolted out of the room. 

I could hear him still sputtering behind me as I darted through the hallways of this place. Maybe I was running a bit too fast because I ran right into someone. She was tall, short blonde hair shaved even shorter on one side. She caught me mid-fall and then looked me over.  
"Taako? I̶̞͋͋̐̍̕s̴͖͇̗̮̈̀͌̿ ̶̜̻͍̥͉̤͕͊́͜t̴̢̡͇͖̿͒͒́̓̂̚͠h̵̫̖̐͆́̀̑͒̎̅͜a̶̧̓̓t̸̢̛̲̩͙̾̆̒̈͘͝ͅ ̸͙̼̰͍̱͈̍͛̿̋̈ẏ̵̲̤̥͓̲̲̼̓o̶̡̮͚̲̖̗͇̹̓ṵ̸̠͙͍̭̖̉?̵͙̜̜̬́" Her voice and face morphed into awful static. I whimpered, trying to pull away and cover my ears.

"T̷̢͉͍͕̖̯͊̾̏̊̈́́̚͘͜͜a̴̧͉̭͇͙͕̖͂̊́͜͝ą̶̟̟̣͇͎̮̘̂͆͆̇̚k̸̯͚̠̈̃ơ̴̘̹͕̩͈̓̇̔̕͘?̷̩͖̖͕̋̐̉͝?̵̛̳̮͉̲͂̏̏͑̚͠͝ ̵̡̛̤͇̅͐̑W̵̡͉͈̤͔̄͑͆̾̃h̵͇͑͆ȁ̸̺̲̿͜ͅt̸̨̝̑̈́͆̔͐ ̵̨̗͖̟̳̪͇̽h̷̯̭̫̼̯̪͑͋̂͂̈ȁ̶̗̅̑̿̇͘p̸̯̦͇͇̮͚̎͌̀̃͘͝͠͝p̷͈͎͌̈́̏̔̕e̴̤͎̮̹̭̰̜̬̎̒̑͗n̷̞̝̘̰̥̐͋̒̊̎͌̐͝ę̴̯͍̜̦̯̔̏̃̅̀͠d̷͍̼͉̱̓̀̊̽̉͘͜ͅ?̴̥̮͉̰̠͎͙̏̅͒͂̊̐͘ ̷̢̙̫͕͕͍̗̳̿̽̃͘Ẅ̶͈̬̮̺̄ḧ̷̫͔́͌́̋͝ã̸̈́̌̽ͅt̴͎̻͕̼̼̗͓̠͆̓͒̄̕'̵̨̝̞͍̲̼̾͒̌̑̿͒͜͜ş̶̛̘̑̂ ̵̧̛͚̬͗͊͐̋g̶̜̋o̵̧̩͇̦͙̤̬̳͌̄̓̑͘ḯ̴̗̤͗̎̿n̴̬͎̠̺̥͎̒̔͜g̵̢̧̨̛̜̠̜̼͖͌͊͛̑ ̶̛͇͕̣̗̮̙̓͊͗̂͌̈́͝ǫ̸͖̻͙͔̤͑̓͂͛̕͝ņ̴̧̡͚̘͈͎̝̄͂̃̓͆̏͒?̴͓̟̹̔̈́͐̽͌̇͜͠"̷̧͓̲͓͓̣̲̒͋͠ͅ " She said, but I could barely hear words under the noise. "Pl-please stop, it's so loud" I squeaked out.

A man walked up behind the woman, looking me over confusedly. "Lup, who's th- is that Taako?!" He said, the wom- Lup nodded. Her features still glitched out. "I guess so?" Her voice was clear once more. I wiggled out of her grasp and was about to dart away when the man from before called down the hallway "Oh! You found him! Awesome" He blocked my path back.  
"Magnus? You have any idea what's going on?" Lup asked, her eyes growing clear as she looked over to him. 

"Wish I did Lup, he just,, woke up like that?"


	2. In which the Raven Queen learns that none of her employees stay to their post

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ah, Beans!

Today’s death rate had been small, the birds chirped, children played. People watched their aging relatives live another day, soaking in the sun. However, for one Kravitz the reaper it was a rather boring time. He sighed, pushing a pen around on his desk, the pen for anyone wondering it was a gift from his partner Taako. It was emblazoned with cartoon skulls and hearts. The other reapers had been given the day off, Lup wasn't really known for coming in normally, so the raven queen had let them go. Kravitz sighed, his eyes glazing over as the seconds went on. The pen slipped off the desk and rolled over the uneven floor. Just as he was about to get up the stone to his left lit up.

"Um, hello, sir? Mr. Kravitz sir? Are you there?" Who should but Angus McDonald (boy detective)

He grabbed the stone quickly to reply, curiosity replacing boredom.

"Angus? Hello, is, is something wrong?" Kravitz asked, trying to think of what could have happened, Angus never called him at work. "Well, uh, kind of? It's Taako-" The boy didn't even finish his sentence before Kravitz was standing in front of him in the moon bases library. His gaunt face flickering between flesh and bone.

"Where is he, Angus? Is he hurt?" Kravitz was a little out of breath, you really weren't supposed to jump through death portals to the moon. Angus was silent for a moment, "I uh, I need to tell you something first, before you see him" He said, obviously unsure as to why he was awarded this task. Kravitz tried to be patient but worry flowed through him.  
"You see, something uh, happened to Taako, sir" Angus paused, words losing him for the first time since he was four. "He's a younger now? Much younger? We think the artifact he was hunting down did this someho-" Kravitz was out the door, leaving Angus McDonald (boy detective) standing in a darkened library on a fake moon, all alone. 

Kravitz had admittedly not thought this through, he had never been really good at traversing the halls of the moon base. It had been rather rude to leave Angus back there. Then a familiar face caught his eye. Magnus Burnsides was not a suspicious-looking man, but right now you would have thought he had stolen Lucretia’s staff. His eyes met Kravitz’s eyes and his face fell even more. Kravitz slowed down, trying to keep his face strictly fleshy. 

“Magnus, Angus told me something happened?” His voice was admirably calm, though his eyes were darting around. Magnus shifted from his spot on the wall, his arm cracking. “Uh, yeah,, Did he tell you wha-”   
A bang came from the room on the other side of the room. Then a small cry and you could hear Lup curse. Kravitz looked at Magnus again before quickly pushing the door open. Inside was Lup and Barry, who were both trying to pull something out of the tall closet in the corner. Kravitz was behind them in an instant, trying to figure out what was happening. Lup grabbed an arm and pulled a small scraggly child out of the closet. The kid was hissing mad, his tall elven ears pressed flat against his blond hair. Lup passed him over to Barry, she seemed tired; drained of something.   
“Oh, Kravitz? Thought you had to work?” Barry said, casually holding up the writhing child. Kravitz had a bad feeling in his gut, the child looked too similar to Lup, to Taako himself.   
“Uh yes,” Kravitz said distractedly, “Who, uh I heard something had occurred”. He asked, eyes still locked onto the small angry elf. Barry sighed, lifting up the child, “Yeah, uh Taako got minified?” Lup laughed from his side “That’s one fucking way to put it” She kissed his cheek. 

Kravitz wasn’t stunned, his brain had gotten ahead in the conversation, but he was certainly something. Perhaps concerned? That works, Kravitz was quite concerned about Taako being “minified” as Barry said and about everyone’s seeming lack of worry. 

Magnus had joined them at this point, his hand landing heavy on Kravitz’s shoulder. “Taako was chasing something, something dark, we think that’s what did it” He mumbled, snickering when Taako got a kick in on Barry’s chin. 

Taako, now free, looked over at Kravitz, opened his mouth, and screamed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you know that moment when your boyfriend gets turned into a baby and hates you? It's so awkward!
> 
> (I uh, did you like it?)
> 
> UwU


	3. area man makes podcast reference, everyone claps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We see Angus learn of his mentor's predicament, Kravitz remembers one important night, and Barry and Lup play hooky.
> 
> ( i swear there's a plot in here somewhere)

Taako had been in the fucking closet for 15 minutes at this point, Lup was starting to think this was a lost cause. However, if Lup were to have a personal philosophy it would "keep going, no matter which child is screaming" which is a poor philosophy, but we'll move on. Taako had managed to wedge himself into the corner, in-between the drawers and Merle's old "adventuring" cloaks. Barry had been trying to lure him out with various snacks and small trinkets when Angus McDonald (some would the best boy detective on the moon) walked into the dusty storage room. Lup and Barry whirled around, both staring at the second child in the room, Taako had stopped hissing at Barry as he peered out of the closet.

"Uh, hello? Ma'am, sir? I uh, what's all the noise about?" He stuttered out, Angus still didn't know Lup or Barry very well, in fact, he had thought that Taako had been in the room. Lup smiled, she much like Magnus loved to tease the kid, unlike Magnus however she happened to be hiding a babified version of this kid's mentor. So perhaps this wasn't the best time.

Of course, children rarely have tact, Taako chose that moment to make his first (but certainly not last) exit from the closet and tiptoe over to Angus, Angus squinted at him for a moment. You could see the gears turning in his head.

"I thought I was the only child allowed on the moon?" Angus's eyes glittered with betrayal, Barry tried to snatch Taako and reassure Angus at the same time, leaving him on the floor with a new bruise. Lup, however, wasn't falling for it, she had seen Angus before he wasn't that dumb.

"Kid, It's Taako, he got babified," She said, running a hand through her hair. Barry groaned, rubbing his sore back. Taako was covering his ears as Lup spoke, choosing to cower behind Angus.

Angus was (to his credit) not as shocked as a normal child might be. After all, he was the greatest boy detective on the moon, he may have played it up a bit though, Barry was normally quite swayed by his big eyes and gave him toys (something the others forgot he still liked those).

Barry was not in the condition to be giving Angus anything right now, in fact, he was on the floor, hand clasped around Lup's ankle for comfort. He wasn't getting any younger and Taako had hit him pretty hard.

Angus nodded, turning towards Taako who stared up at him, his lip quivering. This was the first time in a while that Angus had felt taller than anyone, Taako seemed to cower under him. Lup took this moment of silence to snatch Taako ignoring his shriek. Barry pushed himself up and (ignoring the twin's struggle) placed a heavy hand on Angus's shoulder.

"Kiddo could you go get Kravitz, I think he needs to know about this" Barry said, smiling at the boy. Angus nodded again, the weight of the situation starting to hit him a little. "Of course sir! I'll contact him right away" Barry smiled at that and placed a small dinosaur toy in Angus's hand. "Also bad timing but I found this, thought it would fit your collection" Angus's eyes were the size of dinner plates as he rushed off.

\-----------------(a small-time into the future)-------------------------

Kravitz stared at Taako as he screamed. His mind raced to try to uncover what could be wrong about him. Did part of Taako recognize him? Why would he be crying then? Lup chose this moment to point out something, "Kravitz, you're all bone faced" She said as Barry tried to grab Taako again, fruitlessly shielding his eyes. Kravitz jumped instantly, turning around, if he had blood in his face he would be blushing. "Oh!" Was all he could get out in his shock. It had been years since he was distracted enough to switch without notice. Flesh pushed itself into being, his hands and face finally filled out as Taako squirmed out of Barry's grip.

"Who are you!" Everyone paused as Taako's voice (which was quite squeaky for an elf) rang out. This was the first time (since he had pleaded with Lup) that Taako had really spoken, his big eyes glaring at Kravitz. "Why are you here!?" He demanded, trying to puff his chest up a little. Kravitz fought a smile, something he had never done around Taako. "I'm Kravitz, Taako, do you, err, have you an idea what happened?" He said, kneeling down to better match Taako's new height. Taako stared at him, before promptly grabbing a handful of dreads and pulling on them, hard. Kravitz let out a yelp (though he would deny that fact later), pulling away from Taako's cruel hands. "How did you do that? Where did your face come from?" Taako seemed perfectly content ignoring Kravitz's questions for now. "I uh, Well I'm a reaper Taako, I use magic to change my form," Kravitz said, watching both Barry and Lup give him thumb ups and sneak out of the room. He sighed, they did have a knack for leaving him their trouble. (This mostly happened at work, but it makes sense it would follow him here).

Taako seemed content with his answer, sitting back on his heels. "I've seen you before, did you bring me here?" He asked, only just seeming to notice the other's absence. Kravitz's brow drew together, Taako hadn't seemed to remember anything else, what was he on about? Then it struck him.

The cave.

"Yo-you remember me?" His voice shook, hands itching to hold Taako close. Taako nodded, his ears perking up a little.

The cave wasn't a place he had to visit often, only every hundred years or so when one of them died. The cult of Mango wasn't a well-known group, so they rarely got new members, to be frank with you Kravitz had been under the impression that they had all died at this point. However just 3 days ago he had been sent there, the Raven Queen strangely grim. In the darkened muck he had found a corpse, and, well, Taako. Taako had been cleaning his boots when Kravitz arrived, appearing unbothered by the dead man. The soul was easy to collect, he barely put up a fight. Taako stayed silent the whole time, Kravitz felt a strange tension go down his spine. Something was off.

Turning away from the (hopefully) last member of the cult, Kravitz daintily sat on the cold stone next to the silent elf. "Didn't know you still went on missions" If Kravitz had been going for cool he failed, and normally Taako would have teased him for it. Now though, Taako barely seemed to process his words before responding.  
"I just wanted to beat out Magnus's record" His voice was flat, eyes not looking up from his (at this point quite clean) boots.

Sighing Taako dropped the boot he had been rubbing at for the past few minutes. Dust billowing around their feet. "Can you, can you take me back?" He said, face finally turning towards Kravitz. His eyes were blank, grey covering his normal blue. Kravitz gulped, if he had a heart it would have been racing.

Kravitz stood, eyes darting around the room, what could have happened, Taako was never like this. Still, he nodded, waiting for Taako to pull on his (now dusty) shoes. They both stepped through a portal, Taako's cluttered room coming into view. Kravitz always felt calm here, surrounded by things Taako had deemed worthy (which more often than not included him). Taako plopped his bag onto an over-cluttered table and then threw himself onto his bed. Kravitz smiled, maybe Taako had just been tired, he kissed the top of Taako's head before stepping through the portal. As he stepped through a small light flashed in the corner of his eye, but Kravitz, ever the sweet fool, ignored it.

Taako was still staring at him, Kravitz gulped before extending a hand to him. "Taako I would very much like to help you if that would be alright?" He asked, still crouching. His back was already cramping. Taako looked at his hand cautiously, as if expecting it to strike him. "Alright, but don't bring the lady back, her face scares me" He whispered, clutching onto Kravitz's hand. Kravitz paused, his joy at gaining Taako's trust faded as he took in the last part. "Taako, what do you mean? Lup's face isn-"

The Voidfish, Taako couldn't remember Lup. He froze, heartbreaking at the thought. "Her face is always gone, like static" Taako said, confirming Kravitz's worst fear. This needed to be fixed, and fast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Barry and Lup went to take naps, being dead have really changed them.
> 
> (not beta read oops)

**Author's Note:**

> hallo!  
> This is just an extra from a cut version of chapter one! (I changed how the story works oops)  
> but it is still cannon to the story.


End file.
